


Nightingale's Song

by invisame



Series: My MCU [3]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2020-02-28 17:35:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18761158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/invisame/pseuds/invisame
Summary: James Buchanan Barnes. Captain America's best friend. Hydra's secret weapon. A man lost in time who can't remember his own name let alone those he held most dear.Florence Anna Charles. A nurse on the front in World War II. A mutant in a time they weren't known. A woman who can heal with a touch that catches the attention of Hydra.Her heart breaks for the man they call the Winter Soldier. She does her best to help him remember who he is while struggling to keep hold of her own sanity. Hydra separates them, a certain Captain will bring them back together. Can they help each other survive a new world and the horrors in their own minds?Book 3 in my Marvel MCU series. Starting with this book, the timeline becomes my own.





	1. Chapter 1

_World War II...Shortly after Captain America rescues the 107th from captivity._

Florence Anna Charles was a war nurse, one of the best in fact. Doctors proclaimed her ability to soothe hurting patients astounding and the way those patients recovered miraculous. It wasn't long before they began assigning her to care for the hopeless cases and lost causes. The men whose ticket home was a body bag. But time after time, those men would recover, usually just enough to be sent to a hospital back in the States.

It was suspicious, certainly, but no doctor was about to look too closely at the how or the why. What mattered to them were the results and they were indisputable. And if the other nurses tended to keep their distance or the doctors stopped talking when she walked in the room, Anna was okay with that. She wasn’t here to make friends. She was here to save lives.   

At the moment there didn’t appear to be anything life threatening, but numerous soldiers that had been rescued by Captain America were pouring into the camp. Medical personnel were running about, checking them over for injuries and clearing them for duty as appropriate. Most of them were simply dehydrated and malnourished. As usual, Anna began working without waiting for direction. It wasn't as if she needed someone to tell her how to examine a service man. And nothing irritated her more than people who stood about when there was work to be done.

"Hello, soldier," she said as she stepped over to one of the men, looking at the paperwork in her hand. When he didn't respond, she glanced up and her breath caught just a bit. 

He was beautiful. She supposed that wasn't the best word to use to describe a man, but it was the first word to pop into her head when she saw him. Even with the cuts and bruises, he was gorgeous. His short brown hair was understandably a mess and his piercing blue eyes seemed to burn right through her. 

His eyes were wide as they ran over her. Her cheeks flushed and she smiled even as she dropped her gaze back down. He cleared his throat. "S-Sorry. Sergeant James Barnes, ma'am. You can call me Bucky."

She set the paperwork aside and met his gaze with a smile. "Well, Sergeant Barnes, you can call me Anna. Or anything but Ma'am really."

He grinned at that and her heart responded like a giddy schoolgirl. Why was she acting like she'd never been around a pretty face before? 

She shook her head as she placed her fingers under his chin and lifted it to look at the bruising on his neck. She pressed against the wounds carefully. "Does this hurt?"

"No, M-Anna."

She nodded and let him lower his head so she could clean the cut on his cheek. He winced slightly when the disinfectant hit the open wound but was otherwise still. Her eyes ran over him, taking in the way he held himself as he sat on the table. 

"What else is bothering you?"

"Nothing."

"Want to try that again, soldier?" she asked with an arched brow. It was evident from the way he sat that something was hurting him. Most likely his ribs. 

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. Can I go now?"

She looked at him blankly for a long moment. He squirmed under her observation but didn't say anything. Finally, she reached out and pressed lightly against the ribs on the side he was favoring.

He hissed in a breath and grunted in pain. "My ribs may be a little sore now that you mention it."

"Mmm-hmm. Shirt up," she said with a gesture. 

He rolled up his shirt so she could see his side. Dark purple bruises mottled the otherwise pale skin. She cringed in sympathy as she saw the injury. A glance around the tent showed no one paying any attention to the two of them. 

She laid her hand lightly against his side. "Sorry, my hands are cold."

"It's fine. Feels good actually."

"I'm going to try something, Sergeant. It may hurt for a moment but it will feel better after. Okay?"

"Sure thing, doll."

She shook her head at the nickname then closed her eyes and concentrated. Power flowed from her hand and into the man in front of her, knitting his broken ribs back together. Four of them to be exact. He would have been miserable for a long time without her intervention. 

When she finished, she removed her hand from his side. "Take a deep breath. See how that feels."

He did as she instructed though he was hesitant at first. "They feel perfect." He glanced from his side to her in surprise. "How did you do that?"

She gave him a small smile. "They were simply dislocated. I fixed them."

He stared at her and she could tell that he didn't believe a word she said. Before he could question her further, another voice interrupted them. "Will he live, nurse?"

They both turned to see Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, standing there with a grin. She nodded. "He's all yours, Captain."

Bucky hopped down and looked at her for a long moment before walking off with his best friend.

***

Anna's mind was elsewhere as she trudged through the chow line. The men that arrived at camp that day were in surprisingly good health considering what they'd been through. She had seen several of them, but her thoughts were on one. Bucky Barnes. She still couldn't believe she had used her ability on him. She'd managed to avoid getting caught this long by saving it for the extreme cases. The ones that were so close to death that when they survived, no one wanted to look too closely at the how. 

Or she stuck with easing the soldier's pain and let him heal on his own. And then Bucky Barnes stumbled into her life and she threw aside all her rules. She sighed as she turned from the line. Her eyes ran over the tables, looking for somewhere to sit. Her gaze settled on a familiar head of dark hair sitting next to a walking flag. Barnes and Rogers. As tempted as she was to sit with them, she figured she shouldn't risk it. 

Then Peggy Carter sat across from them. Anna and Peggy had been friends for years. Deciding fate was nudging her in that direction, Anna shrugged and headed toward her best friend. 

"I'm telling you, those ribs were broken, Steve," she heard Bucky say as she neared the table and she cringed slightly. 

Peggy had already spotted her approach and must have seen the look on her face. "Didn't you know that Anna is a miracle worker?" she asked before smiling up at her. "Isn't that right, Florence?"

Anna groaned as she took the seat across from Bucky. "Why are you calling me that, Margaret?" She gave Steve and Bucky a nod. "Hello, gentlemen."

Peggy held up her hands. "Truce."

"You two know each other?" Steve asked.

At the same time, Bucky said, "Florence?"

"We grew up together," Peggy explained. The smile that lit her face could only be described as wicked. "Which is why I know her full name is Florence Anna Charles."

Anna rolled her eyes even though she knew precisely what Peggy was up to. As the only person that knew her secret, Peggy was trying to change the focus of the conversation. Bless her. "Yes, thank you for telling everyone."

***

Bucky grinned at their interaction. It reminded him of how he and Steve were with each other.

Peggy draped an arm around Anna's shoulders. "You know you love me."

Anna pointed at her friend with her fork. "We're stuck with each other forever. We have far too many secrets on each other."

The women laughed and Bucky looked between the two of them. They couldn't look any different if they tried. Peggy had dark hair perfectly pinned, lips done up in a bright red and warm chocolate colored eyes. Anna's dark blonde hair was pulled back but wisps of it had come loose to hang beside her face and along her neck. The only makeup he could tell she wore was a gloss of some kind on her soft pink lips and her eyes were a pale icy blue lit with humor.

He was smitten. There was no other word for it really. Steve could have Peggy. Florence Anna Charles was absolutely stunning and Bucky intended to make her his girl.


	2. Chapter 2

_ Several months later... _

It was a slow day for once and Anna was taking the opportunity to do inventory. They were running low on several supplies and needed to get them ordered before they ran out completely. Finishing the last cabinet, she sighed and laid the notepad aside.

Arms wrapped around her waist from behind and she jumped slightly in surprise. Realizing immediately who it was, she ran her hands over his arms and linked her fingers with his as she leaned back against him. 

“Hey ya, Nightingale,” Bucky said against the back of her neck and she giggled at the ticklish sensation. He’d taken to calling her by the nickname in reference to the famous war nurse. 

“Hey, Buck,” she replied. “When did you guys get back?” She turned so she could see him and frowned at the dirt on his face that was now undoubtedly on the back of her uniform as well.

He grinned. “Just now. I would’ve cleaned up, but I couldn’t wait to see my favorite girl.”

She didn’t have the heart to chastise him. She’d missed him too much. Bucky worked beside Steve and the Howling Commandos, fighting Hydra. When Anna and he would have parted ways, Peggy had dragged her along as the unit nurse. And Anna had never been more grateful. 

She wrapped her arms around Bucky’s neck. “I love you, Buck.”

He turned serious all of a sudden and studied her face for a moment. “I love you, too, doll. Never doubt that.” His lips found hers and they kissed until a throat being cleared caught their attention. 

Anna’s face heated when she turned to find Steve watching them with a smirk.

“I thought we were going for a drink, Buck,” he said, obviously amused.

Anna turned to Bucky with a frown. He’d just gotten back. He laughed when he saw her expression. “You’re going too, doll. Go get changed.”

***

It was late evening by the time Bucky stood from the table the four friends were sharing and held out a hand to his girl. He wanted some time alone with Anna. She smiled at him as he helped her stand and wrapped an arm around her waist. He glanced over to Steve and Peggy. “We’re going to go for a walk. See you later,” he told them.

Peggy suddenly looked very serious. “Make sure you have her home at a reasonable hour, Sergeant.”

Bucky arched a brow at the brunette and she broke into giggles. “I can’t,” she said with a wave of her hand through the air. “Go. Have fun.”

Anna covered her mouth with her hand as she giggled as well. She leaned against Bucky’s side as they wove through the tables toward the door. “I think Peg might be a little tipsy.”

He grinned at her. “I think you might be right, doll.” Once they got outside, he slowed his step and laced his fingers with hers. 

“Where are we going, Buck?” she asked after a moment. 

He shrugged his shoulders. “Nowhere. Everywhere. I just want to spend time with you.”

When she didn’t respond he glanced over to find a smile on her lips as she ambled along beside him. He decided now was the time to ask her the question that had been bothering him for weeks. “Anna, can I ask you something?”

“Anything. You know that.” She squeezed his hand. 

“How do you do it?”

Her smile fell and her step faltered ever so slightly. “How do I do what?”

He pressed his lips together and looked around before tugging her into a secluded alcove. “You know what I’m talking about, doll. My ribs. The cut in Dugan’s side. They were much worse than you tried to make out.”

Her gaze was fixed on her hands as they twisted together. The silence stretched and just as Bucky was about ready to let it go, she spoke. “When I was eight years old, Peggy and I were climbing trees. Which we weren’t supposed to be doing, but when has that ever done anything but encourage us. We were laughing about something and I heard this crack. It’s still the worst thing I ever heard.” Thick tears rolled down her cheeks and she wiped them away. 

Bucky instantly regretted asking her. He couldn’t stand to see her cry. 

She licked her lips and looked up at him. “Anyway, the branch Peg was on broke. Just snapped clean in two. I scrambled down the tree and ran to her side. She was gasping like she couldn’t breathe. Her eyes were huge. She was terrified, Buck. I just remember thinking that I had to fix her. My palms heated up but they looked exactly the same. But when I touched her…” She glanced down before meeting his gaze once more. “She was fine. Later she told me she hadn’t been able to move as she laid there. That was what had scared her so badly. But I fixed her.”

Anna shrugged and began walking again. “I don’t know what it is, Buck or how I do it. It just happens. I try not to use it unless I have to, but then I saw you and…well, you’re good at getting me to throw my rules out the window.”

He grinned and brought her hand to his mouth to press a kiss on the back of it. “Your secret’s safe with me, doll.”

She simply shook her head as she leaned against him. He steered them back toward the base. “Come on. I have something I want to show you.”

When they arrived at the barracks, Anna pulled to a stop and glanced between him and the building. “You want to show me the barracks? I assure you I have seen them before, Barnes.”

He made a face and tugged her along behind him. “Cute, Anna. Very cute.” He shook his head and mumbled under his breath. 

When they reached the roof, he released her and spread out the blanket he’d stashed up there earlier. He sat and patted the space beside him. 

She tilted her head to look him over then took the spot he offered. He laid back and pulled her down with him, cradling her against his chest. Her head leaned back to look at him. “Buck, what are you–”

He cut her off by grasping her chin to turn her head so she could see the sky.

“Oh,” she gasped. Stars lit up the inky blackness. Millions of them. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered as if not wanting to disturb the night around them.

Buck kissed her temple. They laid in silence for a long time, just enjoying each other’s company. Eventually Anna began to hum then sing softly under her breath. 

He couldn’t even make out the words but it made him smile just the same. “What are you singing, doll.”

“Hmm? Oh, I didn’t even realize I was. It’s my favorite song. The stars always make me think of it.”

When she didn’t say anything else, he gave her a little hug. “Sing it for me?”

Her nose crinkled making him smile. “I’m a horrible singer.”

“I don’t believe you could be horrible at anything. I want to hear it.”

“Stars shining bright above you; night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you’.” Her voice started soft, little more than a whisper, but Buck found it beautiful just the same. “Birds singing in the sycamore tree; dream a little dream of me.”

He was well familiar with the song and sang the next verse with her, their mediocre voices sounding beautiful as they blended together. “Say 'Night-ie night’ and kiss me; just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me. While I’m alone and blue as can be; dream a little dream of me.”

“Dance with me, doll,” he said as he hopped to his feet, pulling her to hers. And they sang and danced and laughed, the stars their only witness.

As she sang the last note, he twirled her then dropped to his knee. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand while he grasped the other one in his. “I need to say something to you, Anna and you need to let me say it. Because I’ve been practicing for days and I’m afraid I’ll never have the nerve to get through it if you interrupt. Can you do that for me, doll?”

She nodded, tears pooling in her eyes. 

The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile. “From the moment I met you, I was smitten. There was no other word. You are stunning inside and out. And I know I’m just some dirt poor kid from Brooklyn that’s tagging along in his best friend’s shadow, but I love you. I love you so much, Anna. And I swear I’ll do everything I can to make sure you never doubt that and that you’re taken care of for the rest of your life. Say you’ll be mine?”

She nodded as the tears now ran freely down her face and she threw her arms around Bucky’s neck making him rock back. “I’m already yours Barnes. But yes, I’ll marry you.”

He pulled back and slipped his mother’s ring on her finger. And for that one night, they were content knowing nothing could tear them apart.  


	3. Chapter 3

Anna was up hours before her shift. The Howling Commandos were leaving on a mission and she wasn’t about to let her fiancé go without taking the chance to tell him goodbye.

She walked into the room where they were making their final preparations. Buck was on the far side of the room talking to Steve. One hand was fisted on his hip and the other hooked around the back of his neck. His back was turned toward her and she took the opportunity to just watch him. Her soldier. A small smile graced her features as she watched the way he moved as he talked.

Steve’s gaze fell on her and he grinned before nudging Bucky and motioning in her direction. When he turned, his look of confusion was quickly replaced with a smile. He hurried across the floor to her without a word to Steve. “What are you doing here? I told you to sleep in.”

“You think I’m going to let you escape without saying goodbye to me, Barnes? You’re not that lucky,” she teased.

His hands settled on her waist as he chuckled. “Yeah, ‘cause it’s a real hardship to get to see you before we leave.”

Anna laid her head on his chest, her palm flat against his heart. “I’m going to miss you, Sargent.”

He ran his thumbs back and forth in a comforting gesture. “I’ll miss you, too, Nightingale. But I’ll be back before you know it.”

She tilted her head to peer up at him. “You promise?”

He gave her that cockeyed grin she so adored. “I’ll always come back to you, doll. And always as quickly as possible. You’ll be sick of me before you know it.”

She smiled back, ignoring the uneasy feeling in her stomach. Stretching, she pressed her lips against his. “I love you, James Buchanan Barnes.”

“I love you.” They held each other for a while longer until a throat clearing caught their attention. As they separated they realized they were alone in the room save for Steve.

The Captain gave them an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Buck. We have to go.”

Anna stepped back. “You bring him back to me, Captain.”

“Wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise,” he responded with a grin.

After Bucky placed one last kiss to her temple, Anna watched the two men leave as she twisted the ring on her finger.

***

It had been several days since the Commandos had left on their mission. Anna had learned early not to worry. There was no telling how long they’d be gone. It was often difficult for them to stay in contact so it wasn’t unusual for them to return suddenly with no warning.

An allied transport had been hit by some sort of explosive and the survivors brought to the facilities where Anna was stationed. At the moment she was elbow deep in blood and was doing her best to heal what she could without raising too much suspicion. The army wasn’t likely to overlook gaping wounds suddenly disappearing. All she could do was make them a little shallower and take some of the pain. But she found herself doing it over and over again. It was exhausting.

Several men were being worked on in the same room with doctors and nurses yelling across the space to one another. The initial chaos had quieted as the most traumatic cases were done being treated, but there was still a steady din of noise as they patched up the last of the wounds. Anna was finishing the last of the stitches she was putting in a soldier’s side when the level of sound suddenly died out nearly completely. She glanced up with a frown only to see everyone’s gaze locked on the doorway behind her. Anna turned in confusion, her brow furrowed.

Steve stood in the doorway, dirty and disheveled. They were home. The thought was enough to have Anna grinning despite the chaos around her. As the seconds passed without Bucky making an appearance, the smile began to fall. No. Her eyes darted around the room as she did her best to look anywhere but Steve. Finally, she met the super soldier’s gaze.

Pure sorrow and regret shone back at her telling her all she needed to know. Her chest physically hurt and she was sure if someone listened hard enough they would actually hear her heart breaking. She shook her head as her hands began to tremble. “No.” Her voice was little more than a whisper and she didn’t think she’d even been heard until a hand fell on her shoulder.

“Go, Anna. We’ve got this.” It was one of the doctors. But she didn’t want to go, because if she did, she would have to know, have to listen to Steve tell her what happened. Have to face the reality of a world without Bucky Barnes.

She shook her head again as hot tears began to trace paths down her cheeks and her vision blurred. “No,” she said again. A little louder this time, a little angrier.

Steve stepped forward and she held up a hand as if fending him off. “No.” It was a demand. An order to leave her alone. To give her more time before he delivered the news.

But Steve was a captain and didn’t take orders from an army nurse no matter how much he might wish to. He closed the distance between them. “I’m sorry, Anna.” His voice broke.

“No.” The word was a sob. A scream. A plea. Her knees gave way and she would have collapsed had Steve not been there to catch her. She gasped as she struggled to breathe past the crushing pain in her chest. Her Bucky. Her soldier. He couldn’t be gone. Not yet. She sucked in a large breath of air which only served to fuel her sobs.

She vaguely registered Steve picking her up and telling someone to fetch Peg. He sat somewhere and settled her in his lap. Her head rested against his chest as her body shook. “You told me you’d bring him home to me.”

His grip tightened briefly. “I know, Anna and I am so sorry. I’d give anything to bring him back to you. To us.”

“It’s not enough, Steve. It’ll never be enough.”

***

At some point she must have drifted to sleep because she woke in her bed alone. Disoriented by sleep, it took a moment to remember why she was here and not at work. A moment where everything in her world was as it should be. Then, she remembered. Bucky. She closed her eyes, her lids pushing out the tears that welled with the thought of him.

“I failed, Peggy,” the voice drifted to her through the doorway. Steve.

“You didn’t fail, Steve. You did everything you could,” Peggy argued, trying to comfort him. “Bucky was your best friend. Everyone knows you would trade your life for his if you could.”

“I don’t think that will bring much comfort to Anna.”

“She’s grieving. Whatever she said, I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

“I told her I’d bring him back, Peg. I was supposed to bring him back so they could get married and have babies. They were supposed to live happily ever after. Now she’s laying in there with a broken heart and a ring on her finger that Buck put there less than a week ago. A week.” There was a pause. “Men just keep dying and I’m not sure it’s worth it anymore.”

“You don’t mean that.” Peggy’s voice was low, sad. “I’m devastated for Anna. For you. But even Bucky would tell you it was worth it, Steve. Look at all the good you’re doing.”

“Tell that to Anna. I’m sure it will be a great comfort.”

After a moment, Peggy slipped into the room. Anna watched her as she tried to stay quiet so she wouldn’t disturb her friend’s sleep until their gazes locked. Pure sorrow flooded Peg’s features and Anna knew Peggy’s heart was just as broken as hers. Anna slid over in the bed and lifted an arm. The brunette crawled in next to her and they simply held each other while they mourned.


	4. Chapter 4

Anna wasn’t certain how long they lay there. She knew it was dark. She assumed it was the same day. Surely, someone would have come for them if it wasn’t. She sat up on the edge of the bed and attempted to run a hand through her hair. Appearances were the last thing she cared about at the moment.

“Are you okay?” Peggy asked from behind her. 

“No.” Anna dropped her head. She would never be okay again, she was certain of that. “I need to find Steve.”

“Steve?” Peg sat up beside her. “He knows you didn’t mean anything by what you said. Your heart’s broken. You’re allowed a few harsh words.”

Anna shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. This isn’t how Buck would want it. He’d want me to quit crying and have a drink with his best friend so that’s what I’m going to do.”

It didn’t take her long to find Steve sitting alone, head bent and bottle in his hand. As he heard the steps fall behind him he straightened in his chair a bit. “One of the things the serum affected was my metabolism. Apparently, I burn the alcohol off so fast I can’t get drunk.” He huffed a laugh. 

“That sounds miserable if I’m honest,” Anna responded.

Steve glanced over his shoulder in surprise. “Anna. I thought you’d be Peggy.”

She shook her head. “Not put together enough.” She sat in the chair beside him and gestured at the bottle. “Got one of those for your mate’s best gal?” Her voice cracked a little at the end but she managed to keep it together. 

Steve stood and fetched another glass, returning quickly. He filled it half-way and pushed it to her. She examined the amber liquid for a moment before picking up the glass and throwing it back. It burned in her throat and she made a face as she swallowed, but it would get the job done. “I’m sorry about earlier, Steve. It’s not your fault.”

He refilled her glass. “It is my fault, Anna. I couldn’t save him. I let him fall.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat. She didn’t know the specifics of how Bucky had died and she was fairly certain she didn’t want to. Instead, she placed a hand on Steve’s. “Did you shoot Buck?”

“What?” He scowled. “Of course not.”

“Did you throw him off a cliff? Push him in front of a train?”

“Are you feeling okay, Anna? Maybe I should go get Peg.” He looked her over as she shook her head.

“My point is that you didn’t kill him, Steve. Being unable to save him and killing him are two very different things. I’d be a fool to think you wouldn’t do anything in your power to save him. He would have done the same for you.” A few tears leaked from her eyes, but she ignored them, instead keeping her gaze locked on her friend. He needed to know that she didn’t blame him for any of it.

He placed his other hand on top of hers. “Thanks for that.”

“You don’t believe me, Rogers. I can see it in your eyes. But you will. Just you wait.” She untangled their hands so she could take a sip of her drink. 

The corner of Steve’s lips curved into a slight smile. “That almost sounded like a threat.”

“You better believe it, Cap.”

***

For the next several months, Anna, Steve and Peggy were all but inseparable. If people thought it odd, they kept it to themselves. The trio knew that Bucky would want them to keep going. So, on the days when Anna struggled to pull herself from the bed—when it would be easier for her to stay burrowed beneath the covers and cry for love lost—Peggy would help her get herself together. And on the days when Steve disappeared and no one could find him, Peggy sent Howard to track him down and bring him back to them. 

And no matter how much Steve wanted to hide away, he always came back because he knew Bucky would want him to take care of Anna. And Anna always found a way to make it through the day because she knew Bucky would want her to take care of Steve. And Peggy took care of them both because that’s who she was. She took care of the ones that needed it, deserved it. And no one fit that bill right now more than Anna and Steve.

Steve was preparing to leave on another mission and the women had come to see him off as usual. Anna stayed back and let Peggy and Steve have their moment. When they finished, she stepped forward and pulled the chain from her neck. Her engagement ring caught the light and sparkled as she held it up. 

He shook his head as he placed the chain and ring around his own neck. He’d long ago ceased arguing with her about giving it to him for missions. He made certain it was secured beneath his uniform. “I’ll bring it back to you,” he said as he always did.

“You better, Rogers. That’s why I give it to you, so you have a reason to come back.”

“As if you and Peggy weren’t enough of a reason.” He grinned at her and gave a little wave before hurrying off to join the rest of his team.

***

Howard was the one that told her Steve wasn’t coming home. He swore he’d keep looking, that they’d find him, but what good would it do. Super soldier or not, no one could survive in the conditions he went down in for long. Anna simply nodded her head as if she agreed it was a fine idea and went off in search of Peggy.

Peggy sat in the dark on the side of her bed. Her hands were folded together in her lap. Anna paused in the doorway for a moment, letting her eyes take in her friend’s grief and her already tender heart broke a little more. She stepped into the room and shut the door behind her before taking a seat beside Peg. 

Neither of them said anything as Anna reached over and took one of Peggy’s hands into her own. She laced their fingers together in silent support. Peggy squeezed Anna’s hand as a strangled sob left her. The two sat like that for hours, both lost in their own memories. Two war widows who never got to marry their soldiers.


	5. Chapter 5

It was less than a month later that Dugan came in. His side was split open and bullets riddled the rest of him. Blood colored his lips as he groaned in pain. The other nurses chased the rest of the Commandos from medical while Anna gripped Dugan’s hand. He gave her a weak smile.

“Guess I get to see Cap and Barnes sooner than I thought,” he managed to force out, gasping at the end of the sentence.

Tears ran down Anna’s cheeks as she set her jaw. Not again. She wasn’t saying goodbye again.

“There’s nothing we can do,” the doctor said to her, a guilty expression on his face.

Anna didn’t wait to hear the door shut. She didn’t look around to make certain the room was empty. She didn’t care. Not anymore. She fed her power into Dugan, finding wounds and repairing them. The holes closed up as the bullets were pushed from his body to fall onto the table.

“Anna, stop,” Dugan said, squeezing her hand.

But she didn’t stop. She found every scrape, every bruise and fixed it. Dugan felt better than he had in months. He finally managed to pull his hand from her grip as he propped himself up on his elbow. Anna faced him, but her eyes were unfocused. “Sweetheart?” he asked in a soft voice. They always said she had the ‘magic touch’ but none of them had imagined anything like this.

She seemed to focus on him for a moment before her lids fluttered close and she swayed sideways. He moved quickly to catch her and scoop her up in his arms. Now, she laid where he’d been a moment before. One hand held hers while the other pushed the hair from her forehead.

“I will see to Miss Charles,” a lightly accented voice said and Dugan turned in surprise.

The doctor who had pronounced him a hopeless cause stood in the corner. He gave a tight smile when Dugan’s gaze fell on him. Something about the man didn’t sit right with him, but he wouldn’t be able to name it if asked. He ignored the doctor and put his attention back on Anna.

“Come on, sweetheart. Wake up for me,” he practically begged. They’d all kind of adopted her when Barnes died and if she’d hurt herself saving him, he’d never forgive himself.

A hand came down on his shoulder and he clenched his jaw.

“I promise she is in good hands, Corporal. This has happened before. I know just what to do.” The doctor’s voice had taken on a kinder edge and his words made Dugan feel moderately better. “You should join the rest of your squad. They’ll be wondering about your condition.”

Dugan straightened and turned to the other man as he let Anna’s hand slip from his own. “Yeah, you’re right. Thanks, doc. I’ll check in with the others then one of us will be back.”

“Of course,” the doctor said with another fake smile.

The corporal headed toward the entrance stopping at the doorway to take one more glance at the woman who saved his life.

It didn’t take him long to find the rest of the Commandos gathered under a tree a short distance away. They always went to the same place to wait when someone was in medical.

“I’ve never seen a sadder bunch of misfits in my life,” he called when he was still a good distance away.

There was a moment of disbelief before they all ran in his direction. They surrounded him, shouting so many questions he had trouble picking out one to answer. He held up his hands to quiet them. “Easy, lads. One at a time.” He couldn’t help but laugh at their visible relief that he was all right.

“You were near dead, Dugan. What happened?” Junior asked.

“Anna,” came the answer but not from him. They all turned to find Peggy standing a short distance away, her face pinched with worry.

Dugan’s smile fell, that uneasy feeling coming back. “Yeah. You knew?”

She nodded. “They’ll all know now that she’s saved you. She must have exhausted herself. Where is she?”

His brow furrowed. “I left her with one of the doctors. He said this had happened before and he knew what to do.”

Peggy stepped forward. “No one knows. No one except for me. Where is she?”

“She’s in the same room I was in.” The rest of the commandos weren’t certain what was going on but they knew Anna was in trouble. That was enough for them to fall in line behind Peggy and Dugan.

They were ten feet from the building when an explosion tossed them backward. Dugan scrambled up and, using an arm to shield his face, pushed toward the building. He had to try to get to Anna. To save her. Heat overwhelmed him as flames rolled from the doorway. There was no way anyone could survive that. Anna was gone.

***

When Anna woke, she was laying on something hard and cold. She blinked trying to adjust to the bright light that blinded her. Finally, things around her began to fall into focus but she wasn’t any less confused. It appeared to be some sort of medical facility but not one she had ever seen. How did she get here?

Her brow furrowed as she scoured her memories. Dugan. She saved Dum Dum but she couldn’t remember anything that happened after that. Surely, they hadn’t locked her up because of what she’d done. Not her boys. The fear of the unknown made her heart race.

She attempted to sit up only to discover she was unable to. Stretching her neck, she saw thick straps holding her body to the table. What the hell was going on?

“Hello?” she called out. Her voice cracked from disuse and she wondered how long she’d been out. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Hello?”

This time the door creaked open. The screeching sound made her cringe. Footsteps entered the room but stopped short of her line of sight. “Is someone there?”

“You are much prettier than I thought you would be,” a deep voice answered. The Russian accent was easily identified.

“Do I know you?” Nausea rolled in her belly and she struggled to take a deep breath. What would anyone want with her? Why would anyone be talking about her?

A man stepped into sight. He was dressed all in black with pale blonde hair. A small pair of glasses perched on his nose and he tilted his head as he looked her over. “Not yet. But you will. We will be spending a great deal of time together you and I.”

“Where am I?” Tears welled in her eyes and her voice shook. She hated herself for it, but she was no soldier. She was a nurse.

He clicked his tongue. “No tears, sweetling. There is nothing to cry over yet. You have nothing to fear from us. In fact, I have no doubt you will be a great asset to Hydra.”

The name sent a cold chill through her. It wasn’t possible. Steve had taken out the last of Hydra, hadn’t he? She licked her lips. “I want to go home. Please just send me home.”

“Ah. You are home, _devushka_ and we have so many plans for you.”


	6. Chapter 6

For a long time, pain was all Anna knew. They poked and prodded. Cut and injected who knew what into her veins. Heat burned through her as her body struggled against whatever they were attempting to do to her.

They noticed the first new ability before she did. That made sense though as she was focused solely on the pain of the experiments. They hurt less than they used to. She must be getting used to them.

“How do you feel today?” The blond with the glasses stood beside the table she was strapped to, his hands behind his back.

“How do you think I feel?” She rarely gave them a straight answer to anything. Why make it easy on them to torture her?

“I would think you would feel considerably better than you have been. Your healing properties have been expanded. You can now heal yourself as well.”

Anna’s eyes went wide and she jerked her gaze up to the man standing over her. He smirked, pleased with having surprised her. Eventually she would learn to keep her reactions to herself, though she didn’t want to think about what it would take to finally make her do that. “Yes, I was quite pleased when we discovered it. This means we can increase your training.”

She couldn’t quiet the sob that ripped from her with that announcement. More pain is all that meant to her. She closed her eyes and hot tears leaked from the corners. The man who she knew only as Doctor, rubbed at her arm as he prepared it for another injection. Just before the needle should have been sliding into her skin, a pounding came from the window in the room. She opened her eyes to see the doctor scowling at a soldier on the other side of the glass.

He stormed over and opened the door. “What do you want?”

“Doctor,” the man panted, trying to catch his breath. “We need the girl.”

“I already told them she will not be used to heal every little cut and scrape that comes through here. Her training is too important,” he snapped.

The soldier nodded. “Yes, Doctor, but this is different. It is the asset, and the injury is quite severe.”

The blond stilled. After a moment, he huffed out a breath. “Very well. Place him in the vault. I will bring her shortly.”

The other man snapped to attention and gave the doctor a nod before rushing off.

When he returned to Anna’s side, he put down the syringe he’d been holding all this time. “I’m afraid your lessons will have to continue tomorrow, _devushka._ There is someone you need to heal.”

“You expect me to heal your people so they can go out and cause more pain? I won’t do it.”

He placed you in a wheelchair and pushed her from the room. “Oh, you’ll be begging to heal this one.”

Anna’s brow furrowed as she frowned in confusion. Everything this man said was in riddles. She didn’t understand half of it.

As he paused in front of a large steel door, he leaned down so she could see his face. “Just remember, even you can’t heal everything.”

As she tried to process his words, the doctor nodded to the man stationed on the door. He opened it and she was pushed inside. The door slammed behind her and she could hear the lock being slid into place.

A man laid on the bed on the other side of the cell. He was caked in blood and dirt. Dark hair covered his face. “Hello?” she called, her voice softer than she cared for, but she had no idea who they’d stuck her in here with.

A low moan was her only response.

Anna pushed herself up out of the chair. She could walk, just not over long distances and not with any speed. She closed the distance between them on trembling legs. As her gaze fell on the portion of his face not covered by his hair, she gasped and a hand flew up to cover her mouth. It couldn’t be. “B-Bucky?”

The man’s eyes opened partly and those familiar blue eyes found her. Anguish squeezed around her heart when she saw no hint of recognition there. “Bucky?” she asked again.

He licked his lips. “Who’s Bucky?”

She shook her head and swiped at the tears in her eyes. “Just someone I used to know.” She pushed the hair back from his face and breathed a sigh of relief. Her mind wasn’t playing tricks. He was her Bucky. His body was larger and his hair was longer. And she didn’t let her eyes or her mind linger too long on the metal that shone where his left arm should be. He was alive, but everything that made him the man she loved was missing. What had they done to him?

“Now that you have had your reunion, heal him,” a voice barked over a speaker.

Anna resisted the urge to flip them off. Instead, she took a deep breath. She was about to take a risk, but it seemed as though Bucky was important to them, so maybe they’d go for it without much hassle. She turned back to the door though she could see no one through the small window. “I need hot water and rags. If I heal him with the dirt on him, he could get an infection.”

“And then you can simply heal the infection,” the voice reasoned.

“Yes, but it would be simpler to just wash him first.” She kept her voice level. The truth was, she could heal him just fine and there would be no infection, but he looked as if he hadn’t bathed in days if not weeks. She wanted to clean him up.

After a long pause, the voice came again. “Very well.”

A few minutes later, the door opened and a bucket was dropped inside before it was slammed shut once more. Anna walked over and tried to lift it, but it was too heavy for her to even drag. She bit back the urge to cry. Bucky needed her now. She could cry for herself later. She closed her eyes as she wrapped both hands around the handle. If she could heal herself, maybe she could make herself strong enough to perform this simple task.

Suddenly, the bucket was lifted from the floor and her eyes flew open to find Bucky carrying the bucket to the side of the bed where he had been laying. “Thank you,” she said. He gave her a nod as he laid back down.

She moved to his side and grabbed a rag. She wrung out the excess water and ran her eyes over him, trying to decide where to start. His face. When she reached for it, he grabbed her wrist. She winced but did her best to look non-threatening. “I just want to help,” she said in a soft tone. He nodded and released her.

She ran the rag over his face, wiping away who knew how many layers of grime and blood. He had a cut along his hairline and she fed a wisp of power into it. It sealed instantly.

She rinsed out the rag and turned back to him. “I…could you take off your shirt, please?”

Those eyes studied her again before he sat up and stripped off the shirt. He grimaced and grunted as he did so. His chest didn’t seem that badly injured, so she instructed him to lay on his stomach. My god. His back looked like it had been shredded by a bear. Logically, she knew that was unlikely, but couldn’t imagine what else it could have been. A knife, perhaps, but that would have been a hell of a knife.

She started at the top of his back and cleaned a section before healing the wounds there. As she worked, she began singing as she tried to take her mind off of what had happened to her Bucky. “Stars shining bright above you. Night breezes seem to whisper ‘I love you’. Birds singing in the—”

He jerked as she cleaned one of the worst wounds. She pulled the rag away.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?”

“Yes. No. Who are you?” His words were little more than a breath, as if afraid of the questions he was asking.

“I’m a nurse. My name is Anna.” She waited a beat, but he said nothing further. She went back to work and was soon singing again. “Birds singing in the sycamore trees. Dream a little dream of me. Say Nightie-night and kiss me. Just hold me tight and tell me you’ll miss me.” The last word trailed away as she finished healing the wounds on his back and cleaned the blood away one more time.

“Turn over and I’ll see about the front of you.”

She rinsed out the rag again. This time she sat on the edge of the small bed, the healing making her tired, though not as much as she thought it would. Perhaps that was another side effect of her ‘training’. She kept her eyes focused on his chest, not wanting to see that vacant look in his eyes anymore.

She swayed a bit as she healed another wound and a hand settled on her waist to steady her. Her gaze darted up to find Bucky with a familiar grin on his face. “Easy there, Nightingale. We’ll have to heal you next.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little darker. Torture both physical and mental.

Anna pressed the back of her hand to her lips to quiet a sob of relief. Buck pressed a finger to his lips and shot a glance toward the door. She gave a slight nod and continued cleaning him. Only now, she took the time to feel his skin beneath her touch. She’d missed him so much and had no idea how long it would be before she would see him again.

“What are you doing here, doll?” He sounded heartbroken. Of course, she felt the same after seeing what they’d done to him.

“They found out about me healing people. They took me and brought me here.” Her breath hitched toward the end as she was unable to keep memories from flooding through her.

His right hand had settled on her hip to help steady her and he moved the thumb back and forth in a comforting gesture. “What have they done to you?”

Her gaze found his. She took in the set of his jaw and the dark look in his eye and shook her head. What good would it do for him to know? “Don’t worry about me, Bucky.”

He huffed a laugh. “As if that’s ever going to happen.” He swallowed and looked from her to the door again. “How long have you been here?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know.” She hated not being able to give him an answer.

He squeezed her hip. “It’s okay, Anna. Steve will get us out of here.”

She sucked in a breath.

Bucky’s gaze sharpened. “What? What is it?”

Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. “Steve’s gone. He went down in a plane. They never found him.”

His grip tightened as he processed her words.

“Ow.” She flinched as pain flared from where he held her. It wasn’t entirely his fault. All of her muscles and nerves were super sensitive to input now.

He released her immediately. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. They’ve got me hyped up on all this shit and I forget my own strength.”

She shook her head. “I’m just sore, Buck. That’s all.”

At that, he went very still and his eyes grew dark again. “Who?”

Anna’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Who did it? Who hurt you?” The edge to his voice sent a tremor of fear down her spine even though it wasn’t directed at her.

“Well, isn’t this touching?” came a now familiar voice from the doorway.

Anna gasped and turned to face the doctor. Bucky was immediately on his feet. He stood in front of her, his body blocking her view. “Stay away from her.” His words were crisp, firm. She’d never heard him like that before.

The doctor smirked and ran his eyes over Bucky. “You didn’t think we’d let you keep her, did you?”

A growl came from her soldier. There was no other word for it. Before he could do anything else, the doctor lifted a hand and men swarmed into the room. They didn’t even give Bucky a chance to stand down before they poked at him with metal rods. Electricity snapped down the length of them and coursed through Bucky’s body. He dropped to his knees though he appeared to still be attempting to resist them.

Anna pushed to her feet. “Stop!”

They paid her no heed and why would they? She was no threat. For the first time in her life Anna wished her powers did something destructive. Something so terrifying these men would flee before her and leave her Buck alone. “Why did I waste time healing him if you’re just going to injure him again?” she yelled.

The doctor held that hand up again and the attack stopped. Bucky was still aware, though he was slumped forward on all fours. He panted as he struggled through the pain and attempted to catch his breath.

“You will comply,” the doctor said.

Bucky looked up with a snarl. “Fuck you.”

The other man gestured to one of his soldiers and Bucky braced himself for the attack. Anna was surprised and terrified when she realized the man wasn’t approaching her love at all. He was walking straight to her.

Before she could protest, that metal rod was thrust against her side and electricity rolled through her. Pain and Bucky’s screams were all she knew as the world went black.

***

“I’ll do whatever you want. Just leave her alone.”

Bucky’s voice was the first thing Anna heard as she came to. It was followed quickly by the doctor. “Of course, you will because you love her. Love is a weakness. It leaves you vulnerable.” There was a pause. “She’s awake. Sit her up.”

She frowned as she opened her eyes a bit. How had he known that she was awake? Bastard. She sat herself up before the soldiers could touch her. Bucky was strapped to a table across from her that was angled so he was almost upright. His gaze found hers and she could see the question in them. She nodded once to let him know that she was okay.

The doctor looked her over with a smile that was almost…fond? Ugh. After another look, he returned his attention to Bucky. “I know what you’re thinking, asset. We need her. We won’t hurt her that badly. Perhaps you can resist a bit and no lasting harm will come to her.” He laughed as if he’d just told the best joke ever. “But we’ve made some improvements to your little nurse. There is little we could do that she won’t survive. We could take her to the brink of death over and over again and you could do nothing but watch.”

Bucky struggled against his restraints. His eyes were wide with panic. “Just leave her alone, damn it.”

“But you have not learned your lesson from your earlier resistance, soldier. Not yet, anyway.”

He nodded his head and the soldier nearest Anna turned and sliced a knife through the air. She choked and pressed her hands to the wound on her throat, now flowing freely with blood.

***

Bucky screamed and struggled as he watched his Anna grasp helplessly at her throat, trying to keep the blood inside where it belonged. Her eyes met his and they were so full of confusion. Her hands released their grip as she fell sideways. He looked at the blond asshole that seemed to be in charge. “Do something. Help her.”

“You will comply with erasure?”

“Yes. Anything. Just save her.”

The man shook his head as he walked over to stand in front of Bucky. “It is not necessary. As I said, she will survive. If only she had skills as a soldier, she would be a worthier asset than you. Alas, they believe she is too valuable as a healer to be placed in the field.”

Relief flooded through him though he tried not to let them see. At least she would be spared that. If she lived. Until he saw her recovered with his own eyes, he wasn’t going to believe them. Nausea churned in his belly as he watched for any movement, any signs of life from his nightingale.

Just as he was prepared to give up hope, she gasped. Two men pulled her into a sitting position. She trembled as she processed what had just happened to her. Her eyes met his and the plea in them tore at his heart.

He didn’t want to forget her again, but he couldn’t let them do anything else to her. She may survive it physically, but mentally was an entirely different matter. His gaze shifted to the doctor and he licked his lips. “Erase me.”


	8. Chapter 8

Things shifted for Anna after that. Instead of the cell she’d grown used to, she was moved to a new one with glass walls. At least she’d had the illusion of privacy in the old one. Here she felt like an animal on display at the zoo.

Months passed with no sign of her Bucky. And in those months she learned to listen. She discovered purely by accident that one of the benefits of her ‘training’ was enhanced hearing. She practiced not responding to anything she heard. After all, how else would she discover what was happening.

She healed Bucky twice more in the short span of years that included the end of the war and the years immediately following. No. She’d healed the asset. Both times he examined her with cool precision and a small spark of familiarity. She’d said not a word to him. If she did, they’d only make the both of them suffer and she couldn’t watch them erase her Bucky again. It was too painful.

It was 1957 when they discussed experimenting to see if she could bring the asset’s memories back. They wanted him to remember her and then see just how much he would sacrifice to save her. There was no reason for it other than their own sick curiosity. God, she hated these men. She hated them and she would not do as they wished. Even if they killed her for it. Actually, she was counting on it.

The doctor arrived the next morning as usual. Sometimes he just spoke with her, others he would try some new concoction of another. And some days, if she angered him just enough, he’d kill her. She normally tried to avoid that, but not today.

“Good morning,” the doctor greeted and tilted his head as he studied her. “How are you today?”

“How do you suppose I am, Doctor?” She kept her tone tired, bored. Nothing pissed the good doctor off more than her indifference.

The man pursed his lips and ran his eyes over her. “I thought we were past this attitude problem of yours. You know I dislike it when you are rude.”

Anna licked her lips. “Well, I do so hate to be a disappointment.”

He stood promptly and straightened his coat. “Very well. Your defiance will cost you today _._ We were going to allow you to spend time with the asset. Instead, I have something else in store for you.”

Her eye twitched as she bit back her response. Whatever they had planned for her was better than them torturing Bucky. They’d done enough damage to him already. She’d prevent the little she was able.

At least that’s what she told herself. That was the plan. Until the door to her cell opened again and Bucky filled the doorway. She ran her eyes down the length of him, greedy for the sight of him. His hair was longer than when she’d last seen him though not by much. His expression was blank, dark with no sign of recognition. The man behind him barked an order and he strode across the floor in two long steps.

Before Anna could even process what was happening, the weapon that wore Bucky’s face raised his knife and sliced it across her throat. She gasped at the familiar sensation, gripped at her neck as blood poured from the wound. As she fell to the floor, pleading for help with her eyes. The man in front of her simply turned on his heel and walked out. The door shutting solidly behind him.

***

Anna healed. Of course, she did. She always healed. Except for her vocal cords it seemed. Perhaps, this was one experiment too many. Or perhaps, she just had nothing to say. Hydra couldn’t be sure and every tactic they tried to get her to speak failed miserably. They could only assume she wasn’t able.

The doctor was forbidden from any more experimentation. She was too valuable to risk losing apparently. She’d been moved to a small gray rectangle with one oval window in the door. They fed her, gave her things to read and dragged her out when someone needed to be healed. At some point they taught her sign language and even allowed her access to a computer, though she couldn’t do much with it besides play games.

And once they’d all but forgotten about her, it became much easier for her to train. To experiment with her abilities. She climbed the large pipes on the ceiling of her room. Her muscle tone stayed defined and strong even when she didn’t try. Another side effect. It only improved when she started doing the few exercises she could in the confined space. She learned to find the one conversation in a dozen she wanted to listen to and focus on only it.

As they moved her from country to country, she learned languages. But she never spoke, resorting to written words or the ASL she’d been taught. For the most part things were quiet as the years went by. There would be the occasional excitement but nothing major. Not until the day she heard the words Captain America decades after his plane crash. A crash he apparently survived. Anna’s heart raced. Steve was alive and so was Bucky as far as she knew. The Winter Soldier they called him. What a horrible name for a horrible weapon. She wondered if there was anything of her Bucky left in him.

The chatter didn’t stop. No longer did they talk only of Steve, but of his team—the Avengers. They were destroying Hydra bases all over the world and it was everything Anna could do to not respond to the news with jubilation. But she hadn’t let on that she could hear anything beyond her cell for all these years. She wasn’t about to start now.

Then one morning, she was awoken by an explosion. The Avengers had arrived. Anna pressed herself into the corner of her room as far as she could get from the door, just in case. She didn’t dare hope that they would find her. And if they didn’t then what would happen to her? From what she’d heard, they were leveling the bases they attacked. Would it even kill her if she was buried under tons of concrete and steel? She shuddered at the thought. It wasn’t something she particularly cared to find out the answer to.

Things had gone mostly quiet and Anna had started to lose hope. Maybe everyone else was dead and she’d just be left in here to starve. It was a horrible way to die. She’d done it once and didn’t care to repeat the experience. She closed her eyes to focus her hearing and picked up two sets of footsteps moving down the hall. They were clearing rooms and heading her way.

It was only minutes later a man peered through the window on her door and met her gaze. His eyes widened in surprise and then he disappeared. A moment later there was a small pop and the door swung open. A man dressed in black with a small bit of purple on the chest stepped into the room. He smiled softly and held up his hands, one of which held a bow. She could see the arrows peeking over his shoulder. “Hey. My name’s Clint. We’re here to help you.”

Anna tilted her head. Clint Barton. The archer. Hawkeye they called him. An Avenger. If he was here so was Steve.

“It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you.” He was apparently taking her silence as uncertainty.

She placed a hand over her mouth then pointed at her throat.

“You can’t talk?” he asked.

She nodded and moved off the bed to stand. She stepped toward him, still unsure about trusting him completely.

“Come on, archer. We’ve got to go,” an accented voice said a woman appeared in the doorway behind Clint. “Oh, who’s this?” she asked when she caught sight of Anna.

“I’m not sure. She can’t talk so we haven’t gotten that far. Go set the charges, bird. We’ll be along in a moment.”

The woman nodded once and disappeared.

“Is there anything here you need?” Clint asked. “Medicine they give you or anything?”

Yeah, right. Anna wanted nothing they might have for her here. She shook her head again and reached out to take the hand he offered. As soon as his fingers wrapped around her hand, Anna heard steps that weren’t the soft step of his partner. She jerked him forward and shut the door to her cell, leaning against it. An explosion sounded in the hall, rocking her on her feet.

“What the hell?” Clint breathed as he pushed her aside and stepped into the hall to release an arrow. The sounds that followed told her he’d hit his target. “I guess a thank you is in order. Raven, are you good?”

“I’m fine, archer,” his partner answered from just down the hall.

Clint reached for Anna’s hand again and she moved back. He frowned and she pointed at his bow. He couldn’t shoot the bad guys with one hand. The woman huffed. “She’s smarter than you, Barton.”

“A lot of people are, Barton,” he responded and started down the hall. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

Anna didn’t miss that they called each other Barton, so the partner was either his sister or his wife. The two of them kept her between them as they moved through the facility and outside. As soon as the sun hit her skin, Anna stumbled. Sunlight and fresh air were luxuries she’d had less than a handful of times during her entire imprisonment. The light blinded her and she squinted against it. Her eyes watered.

“Christ, how long has it been since she’s seen the sun, Clint?” Raven asked.

“I don’t know.” He sounded grim but before Anna could think about it too much, she was swept up in his arms. “Sorry, sweetheart. You can sunbathe later. Right now, we’ve got to get out of range of the explosives.”

Anna simply nodded and closed her eyes against the sting. It wasn’t long before he sat her down, cool metal beneath her feet. “You’re inside a plane. You can open your eyes again, it’s darker in here.”

“We’re on,” his partner yelled. “Get us out of here, Natasha.”

Clint led Anna to a seat just as another man appeared. He had dark hair, a goatee and half of a metal suit. He also had a long cut just over his brow. “What took you two so long?”

Clint stepped aside so the other man would have an unobstructed view of Anna. “We picked up a stray.”

The other man rolled his eyes. “You’re always picking up strays, Barton.” He strolled over, his metal encased feet clanging against the plane. Anna couldn’t shake the nagging sense of familiarity she got when she looked at him. He pushed some sort of button and the rest of the metal suit disappeared. He crouched in front of her, now in jeans and a t-shirt.

His gaze ran over her and she felt as though she was being measured, assessed.

“What did Hydra want with a pretty little thing like you?” he asked, though his tone sounded like he was talking to himself more than her.

“She can’t talk, Tony.” Clint took a seat across from her and his partner sat beside him. She leaned into his side and he wrapped an arm around her. Definitely his wife then.

Anna turned her attention back to the man in front of her.

“Is that true? You can’t talk?”

She nodded once.

He hummed in thought. “We’ll have Banner look you over when we get back to the tower. My name’s Tony Stark and you’re in good hands. They won’t hurt you anymore.”

Stark. Howard’s son. No wonder he looked familiar. They looked so much alike. She tore her eyes from him and looked around the plane. She didn’t see anyone else.

Tony sat beside her and patted her knee. “You’re safe. The only other person on board is Natasha and she’s flying us home. Everything will be all right now.”

Anna looked up at him and lifted her hand. Before Tony could even react, she touched his head. He grasped her wrist but hesitated before pushing her away. Warmth flowed from her to him and he frowned. She smiled and pulled her hand away.

“Uh, Tony,” Clint said and trailed off. His gaze darted between his friend and her. “She healed you.”

Tony’s brow furrowed and he lifted a hand to where the cut had been. He found nothing but the remnants of blood. “How?”

Anna gave him another smile and a shrug. Just wait until they saw everything she was capable of.


	9. Chapter 9

After the plane landed on top of a large tower in the middle of the city, Anna was taken immediately to a small infirmary. Having been poked and prodded and scanned, she now sat on a table watching the doctor look over all the results. She kept tearing her gaze from him to glance at the equipment around her. There was a good deal of things she’d never seen the likes of. Some she could guess the purpose of, others she had no idea. Medicine had certainly changed from her days as an army nurse.

Finally, the man they called Banner returned to her. She looked him over but saw no sign of the beast she’d heard her captives speak of. In fact, the doctor seemed nervous, almost shy. Anna had taken an instant liking to him as he explained every thing he was going to do to her before he did it.

He tilted his head and gave her a soft smile. “I’m still waiting for the blood work to finish processing, but you are in remarkable health, especially considering where’ve you been. How long did they have you?”

Anna shrugged. She had no idea even what year it was. She kept track when they first took her, but that had soon grown tiresome. Tony Stark walked in then, his eyes glued to the device in his hands. It seemed they had managed to put a whole computer into something that could be carried around. Fascinating.

“She’s been run through every database and nothing. Facial recognition and prints were both duds. Fury thinks she’s a spy.”

Anna growled at that bit of news and Tony laughed. Even Banner smirked slightly. Tony showed her the tablet and sat it down. “All right, sweetheart. According to this you don’t exist, so who are you?”

She looked at him, uncertain how much she should reveal. She’d been hoping Steve would be here. He would have taken one look at her and all this would be settled. It was that desire to see her friend that made up her mind in the end. She signed quickly asking if they knew how.

The two men exchanged a look. “Jarvis, get the male Barton in here,” Tony instructed.

“Of course, sir,” a voice answered which caused Anna to startle as there was no one else in the room.

Tony smiled. “It’s my AI.”

She tilted her head in question.

“Artificial intelligence?”

She shook her head as she still didn’t understand. Fake intelligence? That didn’t make any sense.

“It’s a really smart computer,” Bruce offered.

She understood that well enough and nodded.

“Is there a lot of that?” Tony asked.

Anna frowned. A lot of what?

“She seems to take a lot at face value. She was very interested in the medical equipment and what I was doing with it. I even explained the things I wasn’t using. She seems intelligent but out of touch.”

She blinked at them. She’d always been fascinated at the conversations people would have in front of her simply because she couldn’t talk. It wasn’t as if she ceased existing.

Clint Barton walked in the room dressed in sweats and a t-shirt. “What’s up?”

“She was signing.” Tony said with a gesture in her direction.

The archer turned to her, the surprise evident on his face. _You sign?_

_Yes. I’m relieved someone else here does. Could you please tell Dr. Banner that I was a nurse before and thank him for explaining everything to me?_

“She says she was a nurse before and wants me to thank Bruce for the explanations,” Clint dutifully translated.

“Before what? Before when? What’s her name? How long was she there? Is there anything else she can tell us?” Tony rattled off.

Clint watched Anna then grinned. “She says to slow down. Before Hydra, everything was different before Hydra. She’s been there since the war. And she wants to know where Cap is.”

Bruce frowned. “She must mean Loki. If she knows Steve, they can’t have held her for long. He hasn’t been out of the ice for that long.”

Anna smirked but didn’t offer any response. As much as she’d heard about these people, she didn’t know them. She knew Steve. She wanted Steve.

“You know Cap?” Tony asked.

She nodded once.

“He know you?”

She nodded again.

There was a pause. “Okay. He’s at a meeting being diplomatic and what not, but I can get him back here. Who should I say is requesting him?”

Anna thought for a moment before signing.

Clint looked at the others with a shrug. “She says Nightingale.”

***

Anna had showered and changed and eaten. She felt better than she had in ages. She was currently perched on the back of the sofa keeping watch on the hallway Clint had told her Steve would be coming down when he returned.

“So who is she? What did Steve say?” Natasha asked.

Anna could feel Tony’s heavy gaze on her but she didn’t turn to look at him. “That’s just it, he didn’t say a word. I called and told him that I had someone here who says she knows him and goes by Nightingale. He hung up. Next thing I know, I get a message that him and Agent Oliver are on their way back.”

“Girlfriend?” Natasha asked.

Anna snorted a laugh. No, she’d only ever had eyes for one man and it wasn’t Steve Rogers. Just then, a familiar deep voice drifted down the hall and she hopped off the couch. She shifted her weight from foot to foot as she waited for him to appear.

“Steve, calm down. We don’t know what’s going on.” The voice was feminine and unfamiliar.

“That’s precisely why I am in a hurry, Alyx. I would say it’s a trick of some sort but no one knew—” He cut off as he stepped into view, his eyes immediately finding Anna. “It’s not possible.”

She immediately ran to him and launched herself into his arms. She held him tightly and buried her face in his neck. As his arms wrapped around her in return, she finally let herself cry the tears she tried so hard to keep at bay most of the time.

Steve shifted one hand to the back of her head and made comforting noises as he carried them over to the couch. He sat and settled her sideways across his lap. She kept her face buried against him long after the tears stopped. It had been so long since she’d felt a comforting touch, a gentle hand. For just a moment she could pretend everything was normal, that it had all been a long horrible nightmare.

Finally, she pulled back and looked at him. He gave her that familiar warm smile and she couldn’t help but return it.

“How?” was all he said.

“Hydra,” Tony answered for her.

Steve’s face immediately contorted in anger and concern. “Are you all right?”

“She appears to be fine. Of course, we have no idea what all has been done to her. How long has she been missing?” That came from Dr. Banner.

“She was listed as killed during a medical tent explosion during World War II.”

“World War II? You can’t be serious,” Tony said.

“Is it really that hard to believe, Tony? I’m from the same period.”

“Yeah, but she wasn’t frozen in the ice.”

“Maybe she was,” Bruce added with a shrug.

Before Steve could say anything else, she cleared her throat. He looked at her expectantly, those piercing blue eyes of his asking so many questions she wasn’t ready to answer.

“Bucky’s alive,” she said and the room grew loud with voices.


	10. Chapter 10

Anna moved off of Steve’s lap so she sat beside him instead and linked her hands together in her lap as she leaned forward. Steve placed his hand on her back as he quieted everyone down. “Okay. Everyone let her breathe. One question at a time.”

“Why act like you couldn’t speak when you clearly can? Why lie?” Tony looked almost offended at the deception.

She shook it off, she barely knew these people. “Don’t take it personally, Tony. I haven’t spoken to anyone since sometime in 1957.”

“That’s not possible. Your vocal cords would be useless if that were the case,” Bruce piped up.

Anna gave a little smile. “I heal. Everything. I was never ‘on ice’ as you put it. I’ve been awake and aware for every single day of Hydra’s tender loving care.”

“But you haven’t aged a day since I last saw you,” Steve argued. “I was in stasis, but you weren’t. You should at least have a gray hair or something.”

“Aging is the body’s weaknesses as it grows older. I heal them. Don’t be surprised if you don’t age normally either. You or Buck. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.”

“About this healing—” Dr. Banner started and Steve held up a hand to cut him off.

“What do you mean that Bucky’s alive, Anna? He can’t be. I watched him die, remember?” The pain in Steve’s eyes nearly broke her heart all over again.

“You watched him fall, Steve. I’ve seen him, touched him, healed him. He remembered me once. What they did to him after…” She shook her head and wiped a tear from her eye. “I didn’t help him remember any more.”

“Remember?” Banner asked.

Anna ran a hand down her face in an effort to wipe away the fatigue. She licked her lips and a bottle of water appeared in her vision. She glanced up in surprise to find Clint smiling down at her. “Thanks.” She took a long swallow. “They erase him. I don’t know how else to describe it. The last time I saw him there wasn’t anything of my Bucky left in him, but I have to believe we can get him back.”

The red-headed assassin who had introduced herself as Natasha held up a hand. “I’m sorry, but who is Bucky exactly?”

Anna glanced at Steve. He looked a little shell-shocked if she was honest. “My best friend. And her fiancé. He was part of the Commandos and fell off a train in the mountains during a mission. Naturally, he was presumed dead.”

“As you do when someone falls off a train in the mountains,” Tony added with the lift of one brow. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You seem real nice and all and Cap obviously knows you but doesn’t this seem a little out there, even for us?”

Everyone shared glances, unsure of what to say as Steve and Tony started arguing. Anna shifted her gaze to Natasha. “To them he’s the asset. You know him as the Winter Soldier.”

Her eyes went wide and she shot to her feet. The bickering men went silent and turned their attention to her. “We need to talk. Now.”

***

Banner led Anna back to the medical lab claiming he wanted to run some new tests now that he knew her age. She saw it for what it was—an excuse to remove her from the conversation. She didn’t bother mentioning she would be able to hear them anyway. So, she listened to the doctor and answered his questions while listening to the rest of them argue on the floor above her.

Natasha was vehemently against even attempting to find Bucky. Steve, of course, wanted to leave immediately. Everyone else was more or less just trying to figure out what was going on. “Your friends aren’t very bright.”

Bruce gaped at her. “Excuse me?”

“They’re arguing about someone they don’t know. Neither Steve nor Natasha want to admit that there might be more to him than what they know. Steve wants to believe that Bucky is the same man that always had his back. And Natasha wants to believe he is nothing but the weapon they have made him into. It seems to me that the conversation would best be had with the woman that has known both aspects of him. Instead they send me here to get me out of the way.”

His gaze narrowed. “Well, Steve may know you, but the rest of us don’t. You can’t just expect us to take your word for much of anything at this point. And they may be discussing something else entirely by this point. Open please.”

Anna dutifully opened her mouth and Bruce swabbed the inside of her cheek. When he stepped away she gave him a small smile. “Natasha just told Steve that she wasn’t going to die due to his misplaced sense of nostalgia. And Steve told her that she didn’t have to go but he owes Bucky, and me, to see if what I say is true.”

The doctor frowned. “How could you possibly know that?”

She tapped just below her ear. “I can hear them.”

“Jarvis?”

“Ms. Nightingale is accurate in her repetition of the argument occurring upstairs.”

“It’s Charles.”

Bruce’s wide-eyed gaze took her in, but his brow furrowed in confusion.

“My name. Florence Anna Charles to be precise but Anna will do.”

He nodded once and licked his lips. “Jarvis connect me to the common area.”

A screen on a nearby wall displayed the rest of the Avengers in midargument. They stopped as Jarvis announced Banner wished to speak with them.

“Not the best time, Bruce,” Steve snapped. His gaze shifted to Anna and softened.

“You might as well include her in the conversation. She can hear you,” Bruce offered.

“What do you mean she can hear us?” Tony asked.

“Just what I said Tony. Whatever they did to her apparently gave her more than just healing.”

Anna shook her head. “The healing’s mine. They just enhanced it.”

“Do you shoot lasers out of your eyes or anything?” Clint asked.

“Not last time I checked, Barton,” she replied with a small smile.

His wife elbowed his side. He jumped a bit and rubbed his ribs. “What? It’s Hydra. I was just checking.”

“Nightingale, was it?” the woman said. “Would you care to join us?”

“Anna,” Steve corrected. “Her name’s Anna.”

“Good. We have enough birds around here as it is,” Tony added before the screen went dark.

Anna made her way back to the others, Bruce following right behind.

***

Upon her arrival upstairs, Anna suggested that perhaps a brief recap of the last 70 years would be beneficial before anyone made any decisions. Everyone listened attentively, only interrupting with the occasional question. “As of last week, Bucky was in the facility in Siberia along with two other assets.”

“Other assets?” Natasha asked.

Anna hummed. “Siblings. The boy is fast. The girl can apparently manipulate thoughts or something similar. I’m not entirely sure. I do know that most of the men feared her.”

“I thought we took out the facility in Siberia six months ago?” Tony asked.

“Different facility. This one is underground. More secure.”

“How do you know all of this? How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Natasha questioned.

“Watch it,” Steve all but growled.

Anna patted his leg. It was nice having her protective friend back. “I listen. Hydra had no idea that I could hear anything beyond my own cell. Once they thought I couldn’t speak, they said more in front of me than they should have anyway. And I watched when they took me from my cell to run their tests or what not. They didn’t think I was ever going anywhere so what did they care if I saw maps or plans?”

Seeing Natasha was still wary, Anna sighed. “Listen, I’m going after Bucky. It would be easier with your help, especially since I don’t own a plane, but I can’t leave him in there. If there is even the smallest chance I could rescue him, I have to try.”

“And if he’s not Bucky anymore?” the assassin asked.

Anna huffed a laugh. “The last time I saw James Barnes, he slit my throat and left me for dead. I still think I can get him back. But if I can’t, then I can at least put him out of his misery. He doesn’t deserve the life he’s been forced to live.”

“You gonna let her do that?” Tony asked Steve.

He looked Anna over, those piercing blue eyes seeing straight through her. Finally, he nodded. “It’s her call.”

Silence stretched as everyone contemplated her words and what their next action should be. Finally, Tony clapped his hands together. “Well, if we’re going to do this, I think we better call in some reinforcements.”


End file.
